Pensar el espacio, construir identidades: reflexiones en torno a la memoria y el patrimonio arquitectónico del Caribe*

Abstract

As is commonly addressed, the historical narratives encompassed in the architectural field constitute a “memory of power” that often legitimates the political establishment. The difference with other power technologies resides in the fact that the narratives of space frequently determines the way in which we conceptualize the city in the Caribbean, subordinating them to the demands of the tourism, the private developers and the initiatives of the State, mainly concerned with order, power and identities in the civic realm. Inspired on Angel Rama's concept of La Ciudad Letrada, this essay proposes an analysis based on how power discourses shapes the significance of architectural knowledge and the politics of preservation in the Caribbean basin.